Suspect recognized in Dallas salon capturing as FBI opens hate crime investigation

The incident may be linked to shootings at Asian-run companies, police said.

17 May 2022, 21:08

• 7 min read

Dallas police arrested a suspect in connection with the May 11 shooting of three girls in a hair salon within the metropolis's Koreatown. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime and could possibly be linked to a sequence of latest shootings at Asian-run companies within the city, police stated.

The victims, the salon proprietor, an worker and a customer, are all Korean, in keeping with ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas. The ladies suffered nonfatal accidents and had been transported to an area hospital, based on police.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia recognized the suspect as 36-year-old Jeremy Smith during a press conference on Tuesday. Garcia mentioned that Smith was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

"Throughout our investigation, detectives realized that two years in the past Smith had a motorcar crash with an Asian male," Garcia mentioned. "Since this crash, Smith has had panic assaults and delusions when he's around anyone of Asian descent."

The Dallas Police Department and the FBI are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

"The Dallas FBI Area Workplace, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Northern District in Texas and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice have opened a federal hate crime investigation into the incident at Hair World Salon in Dallas,” a spokesperson for the FBI discipline office in Dallas advised ABC Information on Monday. "We're in shut communication with Dallas Police and are partnering together to totally investigate this incident. As this is an ongoing investigation, we aren't able to comment additional at the moment."

Police met with neighborhood members at a town hall in Koreatown on Monday amid considerations for the public's security.

Two of the taking pictures victims – the proprietor and an employee – had been current on the meeting, in keeping with WFAA. The employee spoke with the help of an interpreter and her was face covered. The women didn't reveal their names.

Garcia mentioned that police continue to investigate two other shootings which may be linked to the salon shooting.

"At the moment, there have been no arrests on these cases," Garcia stated, including that the investigation is ongoing.

The arrest comes days after Garcia introduced throughout a Friday press convention that law enforcement “concluded three recent shootings of Asian run businesses may be linked.” The suspect in each incident was driving the same car.

This photograph reveals the inside of Hair World Salon in Dallas on Thursday, Might 12, 2022. Police are in search of a person who opened fire inside the salon in Dallas' Koreatown space, wounding three folks.

Police said they discovered from a witness report that an unknown Black male parked in what gave the impression to be "a dark shade minivan-type vehicle" on Royal Lane after which walked throughout the parking zone and into the institution, allegedly opening fire as quickly as he entered the salon.

Police also released a security picture of a maroon minivan they stated the shooter fled the scene in.

Garcia mentioned the shooting at the salon could be linked to one that occurred a day before and one that occurred last month.

Police realized from witness stories that on April 2, a driver in a purple minivan drove previous a strip mall of Asian-run companies and fired pictures at three businesses. Nobody was injured.

And on Could 10, a suspect in a burgundy van or automobile drove by and shot into Asian-run businesses close to 4849 Sunnyvale Road, police mentioned.

“Out of an abundance of warning, we have reached out to our partners to make them conscious of the potential connection and ask for their help,” Garcia mentioned. “This includes the FBI and member companies of the Joint Terrorism Task Power. We're additionally working with North Texas police companions to determine if this legal motion has or is happening in their jurisdictions.”

Hair World Salon in Dallas, Could 12, 2022. A man opened hearth contained in the hair salon in Dallas' Koreatown area, wounding three individuals.

Garcia said police will probably be rising the presence of excessive visibility patrol officers in areas within the metropolis the place there are massive Asian American populations.

“We're turning to each resident of the city of Dallas to keep a watch out and safeguard our city,” Garcia mentioned. “Hate has no place here.”

These incidents in Dallas come amid a spate of assaults concentrating on Asian Americans throughout the nation, which spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABC's Jim Ryan stories:

ABC Information' Invoice Hutchinson and contributed to this report.